DJ Fred Everything

French Canadian Producer/DJ Fred Everything has been a staple in the House Music world for over 2 decades. With over 200 releases to his discography, he’s released on some of the best labels around, including: Defected, 20:20 Vision, Freerange, Drumpoet Community, Om Records, and his own Lazy Days Recordings, which he has been running for over 10 years. Based in Montreal, Fred recently spent 8 years living in San Francisco, and is constantly touring the world as an in-demand DJ. On top of his original work, he was also asked to remix artists such as Curtis Mayfield, Corrine Bailey Rae, Atjazz, Miguel Migs, Dennis Ferrer, and many more.He was recently awarded Best Deep House Artist of 2016 by Traxsource and is currently working on new original material for 2017.

We chatted with him about how he’s using the Prophet-6.

What made you choose the Prophet-6?

“I’m a long time user of DSI products (Tetra, Prophet ’08, Prophet 12, Tempest) and when the Prophet-6 came out, I knew that was the one I had been waiting for. Two of the main things I look for in a synth are a good, full tone and ease of use. The Prophet-6 really nails it on both fronts with its punchy warm sound that sticks out of any mix, with no menu diving or programming. I was lucky to try the prototype without any presets at your office, and I was sold right away. The Prophet-6 is my favorite modern poly synth.”

How are you using it?

“On everything I do! All of my music from the past 8 years have featured a Prophet sound in it. The Prophet-6 is great for pads, stabs, effects… and great for adding textures to any piece of music. But it’s also good for more basic stuff like bass with the new added sub oscillator.“

What’s one of your favorite things about it?

“I like that it has modern features with a vintage sound. It’s really a Prophet-5 made for the needs of now. The added effects can give you that instant vibe, and I’m also a big fan of the onboard sequencer and arpeggiator. I like to clock them by sending triggers in the back (another great added bonus) and coming up with very unusual sequences. The sequencer is also polyphonic, so you can get very creative with it.”

What does it give you that other instruments might not?

“There’s a unique quality to the tone and the sound architecture that just can’t be found in any other synths I know. It’s extremely versatile, but has a definite signature sound, which is very hard to describe.”

Any interesting tricks or techniques you’d like to share?

“So many. I sometimes send a trigger just to get a rhythm pattern going on the notes and I’m free to try some notes without having to keep up with the rhythm. The chord memory (via Unison) was something I suggested in the past and was so pleased to see it added. I use it also with the sequencer for that “instant techno” vibe. I love that you can choose how many voices are included in the Unison and that you can detune them using Slop, or also get a true mono synth by using only 1 voice. Most poly synths only stack voices on Unison, creating this unfocused chorus-ey sound. Another classic is to detune one of the oscillators by a 5th for the ultimate Carl Craig sound.“